I Have Moved

Well I did it.  I finally moved from Blogger to Wordpress.
Please come over and check out the new site!  

www.losingmycensus.com

My Favorite Free Genealogy Websites

Free is the word of the day.  And free genealogy is the name of the game.  It seems nowadays when anyone talks genealogy the talk turns to Ancestry.com.  The problem is Ancestry.com cost money.  And it is not the only genealogy search website out there.  As a matter of fact there are some really great genealogy search sites out there and they are absolutely free!

This is my list of the free genealogy sites that I use frequently but is by no mean an exhaustive list.

1. FamilySearch.org  This site is run my the Church of Later-day Saints and thou you have to create a Log-in with user password it is completely free.  They have the worlds largest collection of free records, resources and services design to help people learn more about there family history.  In addition they have free on line classes and training.  The topics rage from basic research to training on specific record types and are designed for both beginner and experienced researchers.

2. USGenWeb.org  The US GenWeb Project is a group of volunteers working together to provide free genealogy websites for genealogical research in every County and every state in the United States. This website is noncommercial and fully committed to free genealogy access for everyone.

The US GenWeb project website is organized by county and state. Click on a state link and it will take you to the states website which in turn leads you to the County websites. On the County pages you can find the County history maps, marriage records, military history, Cemetery records and Bible records. These records are not complete and some counties have more than others but don’t pass up this little gem because it might just have the record you’re looking for.

3. FindAGrave.com The website project started out as a place to record famous people's graves but has expanded to allow non-famous graves. It is a treasure free genealogy where thousands of volunteer contributors submit new listings, updates, corrections, photographs and virtual flowers of their loved ones graves.

4. Archives.gov  The National Archives and Records Administration has some hidden treasures as well.  At first it seems complicated to find exactly what you're looking for but the site has a wonderful video tutorial just for genealogist.  On the home page go to Research Our Records then Resources For Genealogists and then Start Your Genealogy Research

5. Google.com  Google has been the number one search engine for genealogist from the beginning due to its ability to return relevant search results for genealogy and surname queries and its huge index.  The trick is knowing how to use all the search tricks to get what you are looking for.  Many people have written articles on how best to do genealogy searches on Google and I give daily tips on my Facebook Fan Page.

Here are a couple of articles I have found very helpful

About.com Genealogy Style
The Google Genealogist

Genealogy is fun and very rewarding and it is even better when it's FREE!

Yes, Today is National Flag Day!

We all know Betsy Ross is credited with sewing the first American Flag, however there were many flags at the time and Continental Congress decided it needed to pick one and make it official for the unity of our brand new nation.  So on June 14, 1777 Congress resolved that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field representing a new constellation. The stars represent the first thirteen states: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island.

However for many years American's celebrated our flag on July 4th until a school teacher, Bernard J. Cigrand started a tradition at his school in 1885.

"Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard J. Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at the Stony Hill School. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka.  From the late 1880's on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes."*

What a cool teacher!

Today it's an official National Day thanks to President Harry Truman who signed an act of Congress designating every June 14 as National Flag Day.

So Happy Flag Day! and be sure to proudly fly Old Glory today!

Until next time, Happy hunting,
Kristina

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_(United_States)
* http://www.nationalflagday.com/history.asp

My Autosomal DNA Test

As you know from my earlier post I am looking for my long lost ancestor Henry McIntire I have convinced my two cousins to test their Autosomal DNA with me.  I am still very new at all this Genetic Genealogy but I'll never learn if I don't jump in and figure it out.  So hopefully we will get our results back soon and the discoveries can begin.

Here is a 4 minute video of me getting my cheek swab.  Enjoy!

Have you done a DNA test?  What did you learn?  I would love to read your comments and opinions. Thanks for watching.

Until next time, happy hunting!
Kristina

Planning My Genealogy Research Trip to Salt Lake City

We are heading to the largest genealogical library in the world!  I will only have one, maybe two days to research so I have to be totally prepared.  I have been scouring the web for all the advice I can find.  And what do all those great websites say?  Be prepared!  Have a plan!  Know what you want to look at before you get there!

Ok Ok I get the idea.  And I am taking their advice.

1. Have a research plan. What do I want to know?  What do I already know?  What sources might lead me to the answers.

This is harder than I thought.  I have so many tree branches that need help! How do I choose which one to focus on for this trip?

I have to go back to what my ultimate goals in genealogy are:

• Write the McIntire Family History Book
• Research my maternal line, my mother's mother's mother
• Prove all my American Patriots for DAR
• Compile a book of all the military soldiers in my family tree
• Prove my connection to King Robert the Bruce
• Prove or disprove our connection to Capt. Christopher Newport

After looking at my list I've narrowed it down to my maternal line and the Newport connection.

My maternal line has run cold in Pasquotank County, NC and my Newport's are in Philadelphia.
For the next few days I will be making a list of all the records I might want to look at while I'm in Salt Lake.

At FamilySearch.org there is a very exhaustive online library catalog.  When I put in Pasquotank I got over 200 hits.  This is going to take awhile.

2. Create a Packing List

• Map to location with hours, telephone # and parking information (printed out- don’t trust cell phone service)
• Research Plan
• List of records and books you want to look at
• Blank charts
• Mechanical pencil with refills
• Notebook with lots of blank pages
• iPad and or laptop
• flash-drive
• digital camera
• Extra bag for all those printed pages or what ever else you might acquire there.
• Sweater
• Cash for parking, copy machine and snacks, call ahead to see if you can bring food and drink
• Research local lunch places

Until next time, happy hunting!
Kristina

My Brick Wall, Henry McIntire

All genealogist run up against a brick wall every now and then.  It is a place in our research where we cannot seem to go any farther.  My brick wall is Henry McIntire.  I have two cousins that have been helping me but for the last several years we have not found anything to help us find where is from or who his parents are.

I am using this blog to help me sort through my research and this is what I have so far:

1740 - The first time I find Henry in the record books is in 1740 in Falmouth, ME. Henry signed a petition; objections of Nathaniel Jones and 23 others to any action of the parish concerning the acceptance of the new meeting house 17 July 1740

1743 - Henry McIntire buys 60 acres of land with Benjamin Blackstone from Helen Coy and Mary Gilbert 17 September 1743.

1744 - marriage to Mary Small; Hampton Falls, NH

1746 - 10 March 1746 he is elected field driver at annual town meeting in Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine.

1748-31 January 1748 Henry is found on the tax rolls of Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine from the files of Walter good when Davis volume 8 number three page 71.

1753-marriage to Sarah Dodd daughter of Joseph Dodd and Priscilla Ball, on 25   October 1753 at Falmouth, Cumberland County, Maine

1757-military Winslow, Maine French and Indian war Capt. George Barry of Falmouth in assists in the      election of Fort Halifax

1760-Cumberland County was established. Until now all Maine was York County.

1787-death he died before this date 2 October 1787 when his land was divided between his wife and two sons.

So my questions are:

Where was Henry born?  Who were his parents?  and What connection did he and Benjamin Blackstone have?  Indentured servant?  adopted son?

Finished My Second Online Course in the National Genealogical Society's Home Study.

What a beautiful surprise! My certificate for my first completed course in the NGS Home Study.

After finishing The Basics (which I wrote about in my post "American Genealogical Studies: The Basics") I signed up for the next course in the National Genealogical Society's Home Study, Guide to Documentation and Source Citation.

I love the way the course explains the basic citation principles in a simple outline form:

Creator/Author
Title/Descriptor
Publication information
Internal Locators

Using this basic set up you can cite any source. They go on to explain the difference between footnotes (which most genealogists use) and bibliographies. From what I could gather you just leave out the internal locators when listing the citation in a bibliography.

Using Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Mills the course goes on to explain how to cite published books, periodicals, e-books, webpages, blogs, online databases, federal government records, such as census records, military records and immigration records, also local and state government records such as vital records, court files, court registers and then also privately created records such as church records and manuscript collections like letters and diaries.

It seems like a lot but using the basic outline it all made very good sense.   The challenge came with the quiz. They would give you a scenario of a source that was found and then gave you four choices for the citation. Each choice only had a few things different. It took me two tries to pass but I did it!

I think one reason a lot of people do not cite their sources on public trees is because they think it is too hard and takes too much time.  But if the genealogy community could convince everyone how important it is and how simple it can be there would be a lot less frustration when there is a fact but no one knows where it came from.

I am one more step closer to my goal of becoming a certified genealogist.

Until next time, happy hunting!

quote picture from startupzap.com